Loop around lake fights disease

The postcard in the mail offered the chance to
raise money for a good cause by training for, and participating in, a
100-mile bike ride.

Marcia Gochenaur of Millerstown thought it sounded interesting.

She will be 57. She’s a mother of five, grandmother of 11 and needed a challenge — something that had meaning.

Never mind that she had never been on a
road bike. There were rides with the kids on mountain bikes, but nothing
like the skinny tires of a road machine.

Nonetheless, she attended a meeting in
November 2004 where she paid $55 to start the program called Team in
Training and benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “That got me
rolling,” Gochenaur said.

Special meaning would be attached to her
ride as she rode in honor of her husband’s friend who has lymphoma and
that friend’s sister, who passed away from the same disease several
years ago.

The program allows athletes to train for a
specific event while raising money for the society. A number of events
were offered, but Gochenaur chose to ride around Lake Tahoe in what was
billed as “America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride.”

More than 30 riders from the central Pennsylvania region were part of Gochenaur’s Capital Team.

To prepare for the big ride, Gochenaur and
the team would get together on Saturdays in different areas for long
training rides. Through the week, members would do their own riding
which, for Gochenaur, included the hills of Perry County. Gochenaur also
added weight training and a spin class to her regimen. “It was rather
gruesome and rigorous, but it was well worth it,” she said.

And they didn’t wait until spring’s warmer
temperatures to start training. The team was out beginning in February
to prepare for the June 5 event. “We rode in 30-degree weather, with
snow flurries,” Gochenaur said.

Now, there are a few things one needs to know about Lake Tahoe to understand what makes this ride a tough one.

First is the altitude. Lake Tahoe is 6,229 feet above sea level and the surrounding mountains rise another 4,000 feet.

Then, there’s the climb. When Gochenaur
started training, she and her teammates were told there was a seven-mile
climb. Later in the training, they were told the hill was more like
eight miles long. When they finally did the ride, Gochenaur said, they
found it was closer to nine miles long. The hill’s official name was
Spooners. “I called it the never-ending hill,” she said.

All that training in Perry County paid
off, though, as members of other teams were spotted walking the hills.
“Our whole team rode every inch of that 100 miles,” Gochenaur said.

And, don’t forget the weather. Even in
June there was snow and it was windy. “We had 40 mile per hour head
winds as we were heading uphill,” Gochenaur said.

Despite the challenges, Gochenaur said
there was great camaraderie among the riders during the trip. Members of
the Capital Team wore a Hershey’s kiss on the tops of their helmets. At
first, they just thought it was fun and silly, but it became a great
way to meet up with teammates at the rest stops located every 15 miles
or so. It also helped other riders to identify the Pennsylvanians.
“Everybody from every other state knew exactly where we were from,”
Gochenaur said.

The riders also were helped along the way
by those who ultimately would be helped by the Leukemia and Lymphoma
Society. “What really touched me was the families of these cancer
patients cheering you along the way,” Gochenaur said. “It brought tears
to your eyes. It really touched your heart.”

Each rider was required to raise $3,800 to
participate. “That really scared me, so I hit that head-on,
full-force,” Gochenaur said. She started working on raising the money in
January and in five weeks brought in the required amount plus more,
finally totaling $4,800.

The Lake Tahoe excursion won’t be the end
of her fund-raising rides. There are other groups which offer benefit
rides and cyclists just might see Gochenaur pedaling along.

And she would love to see others out there, too. “If I can do it at this age, you can do it,” she said.